Report: Judge blocks NFL suspensions

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Minnesota has blocked the NFL's suspensions of five players, who had allegedly violated league's anti-doping policy.

The newspaper reported late Friday that U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson blocked the proposed suspensions of New Orleans' Charles Grant, Deuce McAllister and Will Smith, and Minnesota's Pat Williams and Kevin Williams, The Star-Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis reported Friday.

Their four-game suspensions had been handed down Tuesday after alleged positive tests for the banned diuretic Bumetanide, which may serve as a masking agent for steroids.

The report said that Wednesday, the Vikings' players had filed for a temporary restraining order against the suspensions.

Magnuson said he will take some time before he issues an order on the broader underlying issues of jurisdiction and the NFL's drug testing procedures. Also, he chastised the league, saying it took two months to let the players know they were suspended.

He issued a separate injunction allowing the Williamses and three other men to continue playing.